


'Upgrade AU'

by SilverFliesInBlueSugar (orphan_account)



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, admin!jesse, admin!stella
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 15:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16856629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SilverFliesInBlueSugar
Summary: The au i wrote a year or more ago ago and never finished. Includes Jesse x Stella, Admin!Jesse and Admin!Stella, and Mentor!Xara





	'Upgrade AU'

×××Ch.1×××

The first thing Jesse realised after the admin had been defeated was that his vision had gone incredibly sensetive. The slight lights around the room seemed blinding as opposed to their gentle illumination prior, and he covered his eyes, blocking out the strange glances he was receiving in favour of stopping the itchy feelings just below his eyelids. He vaguely registered Stella hunching down beside him, hands covering her ears.

A light ringing seemed to reverbrate in his ears, a somewhat mix between ringing and chalk scraping against a board. It bordered on his subconscious and made him grab frustrated at his head. 

"J.. se... Je...!"

He heard voises and hands shaking him by the shoulders. He flinched out of the foreign grip, finding it hard to focus. Then it truly began.

He yelled and clawed at his skin as what felt like multiple streams of lava poured through his nervous system. His senses were on panic mode, eyes flitting about unseeingly, ears taking in even the slighest of noises, breath coming out short.

He twitched fervently, before finally collapsing, not registering the faint thud beside him and the panicked shouts as he drifted from consciousness.

\---

He woke up, bewildered, in a bed. The first thing he noticed was the pastel shade ceiling. The second thing he noticed that, whilst more numb, the painful feeling was still coarsing through him, causing painful involuntary vibrations from his limbs.

He coughed violently, bringing his hand to his mouth then hurridly retracting it as he saw bright red flecks on his palm.

'hemoptysis..' he realised, nervous. 'did i get internal damage somehow? An infection?'

Lukas walked in then. He brightened when he saw Jesse awake then visibly deflated at the sight of the blood, pulling a napkin from his pocket and dabbing Jesse's mouth and hand. "Welcome back to the world of the living"

Shaking his head to clear up the black spots invading his vision, Jesse send Lukas a worried look. "How long was i out?"

"About 2 days" Lukas stated, sitting down beside the bed. "Everyone was really worried. Do you know what happened?"

Jesse shook his head.

"Hmm... She had no idea, either... This can't just be a random occurance.."

Jesse raised a brow at the mention of a 'she'. "She?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side. Lukas turned to him fully. "Stella" he responded calmly.

Now even more thoroughly confused, Jesse's brows simply knitted closer together. Realising his confusion, Lukas opted to elaborate.

"Stella's been experiencing similar symptoms to you, though to a far lesser extent. She's been coughing up blood, mentioning severe visual and auditory sensitivity, not to mention passing out for several hours... Though that's nothing compared to your experience" Lukas gently told him, dumping the information on him slackly. Jesse brought his hand to cup his chin, interested.

"Perhaps it was an afteraffect of the Admin's defeat? But... None of you experienced it.." Lukas nodded in affirmation at the statement.  
"So.... Why would it go to me and Stella of all people.." he mused.

A new voice filled the air.  
"I think i can shine some light on that"

×××Ch.2×××

Jesse blinked at the newcomer. "Oh... Hi, Xara"

Xara nodded, sitting beside his bed, resting her hand on his blanket covered lap. "Good to see you, kid. But trust me, this issue has a straightforward answer"

Leaning forward in interest, Jesse's expression firmed into one of mild excitement mixed with fear. Xara smirked slightly at his eagerness before inhaling, swallowing and leaning back.

"The..the weapon inside the terminal may have been overall effective, but it simply overloaded unfortunately. Fred created the weapon to defeat Romeo many, many years ago. Since then Romeo's powers had increased. So the terminal overflowed. You following?" she queried. Jesse nodded and she hurried on.

"Well, the power, now without it's vessel and nowhere good to go; the terminal overflowed and Romeo himself no longer a viable host, it went to whoever had the highest magical affinity in the area. It would have likely been me had i not been so exhausted which reflected on my tolerance of any kinds of foreign energy." she swallowed and interlocked her fingers.

"So, it went to you. However, it quickly overrided in you as well. Your exhaustion sent even more remains scrounging - and that sliver of energy remaining sensed Stella's urge for power, not to mention the fact that she was considerably less injured than the rest of us. So it imbedded into her next" she smiled lightly at Jesse's slowly dawning expression.

"So... Your body is adapting. Eventually the pain will cease but your senses will forever be sensetive. Sorry" 

Lukas seemed worried at Jesse's buffering expression, until it morphed into one of quilty excitement. "So wait, do i have admin powers?"

Xara snorted. "Heavens, no. No human could withstand that kind of energy without imploding. You've simply managed to create a magical space in your soul. Your senses are refined and you will likely be draining energy from surroundings or anything that emits an aura. Things which used to be impossible. You'll probably get hightened abilities but nothing godlike. Sorry"

Jesse shyly nodded at this information dump, biting his lip.

Xara ruffled his hair. "Cmon, you shouldn't be guilty for getting hyped. Who wouldn't be hype at being a god, haha. Anwyay, do you feel well enough to get up or..?"

Jesse nodded, swinging his legs over the sides of the bed and stretching. "Ee-yuhp. I'm... Good now. Besides the occasional blood the feeling of impending death is... Fading"

That was a lie. His veins still felt as though he were pumping a mix of drugs and salt through them. However, he could definately grin and bear it. He had a town to run.

"So wait... What do we do... What DID you do with drained Romeo?" jesse asked, standing up slowly with an imperceptible wince. Xara smirked.

"He's... Incarcerated. Oh, don't give me that look, i only hurt him... A lot. He won't die or have lasting damage. He's stuck in a magic confinement chamber for a while. Now come on, let's go" she grabbed his arm and hoisted him along, indifferent to his stumbles. Lukas followed with a small smile.

×××Ch.3×××

"Oi, Stella!" jesse yelled, waving his arm back and forth, other hand cupping his mouth. Stella spun on her heel, and a surprised grin covered her face, though she was quick to muffle it with sass. "Jesse. My rival, back for more perhaps? What's wrong?"

Jesse snorted at the title but mainly ignored it, choosing to get to the point. "Did Xara tell you?"

Stella nodded, hand coming to rest on her hip. "Indeed. Am i allowed to be disappointed that i don't get powers like the admin? Because i am whether you say yes or no"

Jesse laughed. "I was disappointed too, but it's probably better this way. Do you know what you're going to do about it?"

Stella made a hmm noise, finger tapping at her mouth. "It's been incredibly painful, so very little as of right now. But later on I've been thinking off building my skill so i can make use of my apparent new potential"

Jesse flustered slightly, hand coming to rest on the back of his neck. "Umm.." he flashed a dorky grin. "Do you wanna train together? After this I'm gonna go practice, sooooo.."

Stella blushed and averted her eyes. "I mean.. Yeah. But it's not like i like you or anything! So don't make it weird!" her expression softened. "But.. Should you be training so soon? You got it worse than i did. Surely it must feel like hell to move"

Jesse laughed humourlessly at being found out. "Yeah it.." he looked away "It really.... Really freaking hurts. But.." he forced a smile. "I'll.. Be fine. Don't worry"

Stella blushed harder, though her concern was more palpable. "I.. I don't worry! One bit! I just think that my rival should be in working condition when we face off!"

Jesse smiled and patted her forehead. "You're kinda cute stella. Stay that way" and with that he semi-limped off, leaving a steaming red stella behind.

\---

A rounding a corner and fully out of sight, jesse allowed himself to rest his burning face in his hands. Why why why why why did he do that?! That was so... Stupid!

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!" he repeated, slapping his forehead. Groaning he leant his head against the wall, giving himself time to calm down.

Face back to its light brown, jesse breathed out and walked to the forest.

Coming across a particularly thick and sturdy tree, jesse smiled, pulling out a stone sword. He behan to slash at the trunk, ducking and weaving at invisible foes, exhilirarion and adreneline thrumming through him despite the pain damn near drowning the europhia out.

When the sun started to lower in the sky his body slumped. He could no longer move, even twitching his fingers or blinking became a challenge. Worried at the clear overexertion his body was showing, he desperately fumbled for his sword, his body screaming in protest as he got to his knees. Breath coming out in short heavy pants, jesse began to essentially crawl back to the lights of beacontown. He could vaguely see the spires of champion city too.

The sun had completely set by the time he was alright enough to get to his feet, only having managed to get a few meters thus far. Sword hand limp by his side, he focussed on walking.

Until he heard hisses and growls.

Face paling considerably, Jesse's eyes locked onto the forms of multiple mobs headed towards him. Not in fighting condition, he stumbled away from them, yells forcing themselves unbidden from his mouth.

As a zombie approached he desperately slashed. It felt like his wrist was being dipped in acid and tears streamed down his face from pain. It lowered it's head and he screwed his eyes shut...

Only to open them wide when the zombie was flung off of him.

Through his blurry vision he vaguely saw a purple and golden blur attacking the zombies with what looked like a golden axe. They were quite clumsy but also efficient, as their slow hits were heavy apon the monsters.

The figure ran to him as his vision greyed.

×××Ch.4×××

Jesse notices 2 things as he wakes up.

1: He woke up. He was sure he was a goner. His memories were fuzzy.

2: Someone was holding his hand.

He focussed slowly, vision blurred and washed of colour. He zoned in on the fact that his hand was being held by stella,who was sat in a seat beside the bed Jesse was lying in. Looking around, jesse couldn't recognise where he was, though judging by the pale colours he was most likely in champion city.

Sliding his hand out of Stella's bony one, he sat up in the bed, rubbing his forehead. Stella awoke slowly but with a start, her eyes widening as she saw Jesse awake. She seemed to want to go in for a hug but drew back before she did, a conflicted look apon her face. She settles for resting her hand apon his shoulder.

"You gotta stop fainting, Jesse. And overworking yourself into fighting condition will backfire. Even i know that" she pointed out. Jesse groaned, nodding slightly. Stella forced a smile as she stood up. "Want anything?"

"Uh... Water?" Jesse asked meekly, ruffling his hair. Stella smiled. "Say no more. Wait here, do not leave your bed."

Nodding in assent, jesse waited for stella to leave before attempting to stand.

His knees buckled and he hit thr floor. Hard. His entire body screamed in agony and he only just managed to bring a hand up in time to muffle his kneejerk scream.

Didn't stella understand? He had to practice! He had so much potential for power now- and with his failures he simply had to be ready for future challenges.

Groaning and dragging himself back under the bed, jesse tried to ease back up into a sit, slipping a few times. God, why was he so.. Weak?!

Stella returned, water in hand, and passed it to him. She sat back beside him. "As humiliating as fetching you drinks is... It's not like you're mobile.." she muttered, eyes rolling, before her head slowly turned up to meet his eyes.

"I was being serious. Stop being so reckless; your girlfriend was super worried. I sent her off though, she's on another adventure or something..." stella added, voice trailing oddly after she mentioned the word 'girlfriend'. Jesse spluttered, the water spilling onto his hand. "G-girlfriend?! I'm single!"

Stella looked suprised. "That petra girl... She's not your girlfriend?"

Jesse flushed indignantly. "I liked her in the past, but it never became anything.." his expression saddened. "Please drop it.."

Stella nodded silently, taking the water from him and putting it on top of a desk.

"With your enhanced regeneration you should be in shape in about a day or so" she commented idly. "Until then i have to take care of your sorry arse.. Urgh."

Jesse's face went a fluorescent rose colour. "U-uh, how did you know that we had enhanced regen?" he stammered, changing the topic. An odd look crossed Stella's face. "That's.." she frowned. "Not important. Anyway... You should go back to sleep. Time passes faster for you that way"

Jesse nodded. "You'll wake me if anything important occurs while I'm out... Right?"

Stella scoffed. "Puh-lease. I'm the only one who will ever get important news!" she flashed a smirk. "But yes, i will awake you if so. Now.. Rest"

Closing his eyes, it only took about 20 minutes for cute snores to appear. Blushing and with a giggle stella poked his nose, and an odd feeling emerged in her gut as she saw his face at peace.

Swallowing it down, she left the room.

×××Ch.5×××

Wandering into her 'training room' (aka a room with a few practice dummies and not much else that she dubbed a training room) stella pulled out a sword.

She knew she was... A bit incompetent. Not that she'd ever admit it, of course. She had saved Jesse earlier with a golden axe that she had found in her inventory when desperately searching for a suitable weapon, but she had been pathetic with it. Her blows were slow and clumsy, lacking any sort of proper impact or curve. She just... Smacked. Granted it took care of them, but she suspected that was due to her power boost and not of her own merit.

Now with an iron sword, she hoped that she could perhaps improve over before. Breathing in slowly, she leveled herself, getting into a typical stance, once that was taught to most when they were children in case they were caught in a corner with monsters.

And she trained.

\---

Waking up, Jesse felt minorly rejuvinated. Smiling in mild releif, he walked to the wall and stretched, yawning as his muscles popped quietly.

Looking around the room, he realised that this was likely Stella's room, now that he could more closely examine the decor. A photo of lluna apon the wall, some small images of stella, images of the cityscape...

Stepping outside, he wandered down until he heard some soft thids from his left.

Pushing open the door, he was suprised to see Stella, sword in hand, attacking a dummy with fevor, exhaustion clear on her face. He moved to leave, but tripped, head thwunking the door and making him career and hit the wall, sliding down until he was sat down. Groaning and rubbing his head, he cursed his embarrassment as Stella gave him a suprised and slightly amused glare.

"Jesse, what the hell?!" she growled, before hanging her head. "You alright now? Move freely?"

After Jesse's nod, Stella smiled nervously. "Well... Up for a touch of sparring? There's not much i can learn without a partner...Besides, you still owe me that training you offered before!"

Interested, Jesse offered a dubious nod, and Stella chucked him a wooden sword which he caught. She exchanged her own iron one for a wood one too. She smiled as she stood across from him. "Do tell me if you feel any kinds of pain though?"

Jesse smiled. "This will be over too quick for you to hurt me!"

Deciding to mirror his cockiness, Stella rested one hand on her hip, jutting her leg out and smirking. "Says the crippled bed-stuck baby! You'll never defeat MY excellence! Prepare for your doom!!!"

Laughing, Jesse ran forward and slashed, making sure his force wasn't over the top. Stella easily blocked and used momentum to push him back with her sword, before jabbing. Jesse jumped to the right, and tried to sweep her with his feet but she jumped his legs and stabbed downward, which he quickly pulled his legs back from. She landed heavily on her ankle, causing her to lose her balance. Seeing his opening, jesse slammed the flat side of the sword into her side, sending her veering off balance and falling sideways. A dizzy spell took over her head momentarily but she shook it off.

Shooting her hand out, Stella jumped back up and swung, jesse ducking and tackling her to the floor. A small cracking sound could be vaguely heard.

Blade resting against her neck, he smiled. "Not bad. But nowhere near me"

Stella's face was aflame. "Uhm.. Yeah. I'll practice more" she managed, painfully aware of how close they were. If she just leant up slightly their noses would brush. Shame that the sword prevented that.

But while Jesse was certainly aware of their closeness, he noticed something a bit more concerning.

"Stella.. You're really... Really fragile. Is something wrong.. Are you ill?"

Face flushed with embarrassment, Stella shoved him off of her, cheeks burning but no longer because of sexual tension. A sense of dizziness could be felt in the back of her head. "Calling me fragile is rather rude hm, Jesse? Perhaps it is jealousy at how fabulously delicate i am" she flipped her hair, but her legs suddenly felt too weak to support her and she swayed.

Jesse darted forward and caught her as she lurched. His face was covered in concern. She shoved him off, visibly upset. He stared back at her accusing glare, bbaffled. 

"You can go back to beacontown now" Stella's voice sounded dead. "We will continue our training if you want, come to the gates and ask for me. Otherwise... Please don't come back"

And so jesse ended up staring blankly at the gates to Chamption city after being physically ushered out by guards. Swalling the dread in his throat, he headed back to beacontown.

\---

Apon entrance he was instantly greeted by Radar, who gave him a hug before instantly apologising. He was led up to his abode, greeted along the way. He smiled back at everyone and gave them high fives, but his heart wasn't in it.

When the sun set, he placed a hand over his chest as he layed in bed. Something was certainly wrong. But... Why did he feel this concern? He knew he.. Well.. Liked her... But this was a stronger emotion. He wanted to hold her and make her smile and protect her from anything that tried to hurt her. He wanted to stay with her and-"

He slapped his forehead several times to stop the influx of thoughts, groaning. This was not a thought path he was willing to go down. Sleeping, next morning he awoke to have nearly forgotten the previous day, it's events shuffled backward into the recesses of his mind as he went to champion city to ask for a spar.

As weeks passed by, everything semed to be nice. The days were beautiful, his friendships flourished and so did his abilities, Stella seemed to be getting a hang of swordplay even if she seemed to be tired every time she showed up to train.

Until a pain unlike ever before tore through his body.

A red beacon shot into the sky.

×××Ch.6×××

He yelled as a tearing feeling rushed through him. Red light erupted around him, seeking to be emenating from himself. He doubled over, wrapping his arms around himself as a feeling of sheer pain enveloped his body.

He vaguely heard someone calling his name, but it was drowned out in his screams. He could feel his feet beginning to lift off of the ground. The pain was fluctuating now, clearly imbalanced in his body and unable to containt itself. He was likely in for a loooong ride.

He could see black spots dotting his vision but he angrily forced them away, tears forced from his eyes. He heard his name being called again, only this time it was much clearer. He recognised that voice... Argh, who was it..?!

Then he felt someone hold his hand, and he snapped his heead to stare at a terrified Stella, her skin slightly burning under the pressure of the energy despite her previous exposure to it. 

He grabbed her shoulders and hugged her, holding on like that was the last thing he would ever do, screaming as the pain just got more intense. Stella seemed to be crying, holding on as hard as she could as they rose higher.

Then, it all stopped. The pain faded, the lights dimmed,and he found himself hitting the ground.

Writhing in the aftershock, he could feel Stella hold his hand and hear her desperately reassuring him that everything was gonna be okay, that he had to stay calm and stay awake.

He held her hand with equal force, managing a smile through the violent spasms of his body.

He heard a second voice, and could only identify them through Stella's startled "o-oh, Xara!"

"Hold him still" Xara stated calmly. Stella nodded and held him down, tears still dripping down her face, exposed skin smarting from the burns.

Xara muttered something vaguely foreign sounding, and Jesse felt a cold feeling cover him like a blanket of ice, which caused his body to forcibly unwind.

His vision unfogged and he groaned, eyes rolling back in his head. "Ugh... The hell was that about?!"

Stella shook her head desperately. "I have no idea?! Jesus Christ, Jesse, You freaking scared me.. It was hard to bring myself to get close to you!"

"Oh, about that..." he looked at her sadly. "I hurt you... Sorry..."

Stella forced a smile. "It clearly wasn't intentional.. It's... Fine.. Nngh" her expression slipped as she grabbed her shoulder. Jesse felt like he was being suffocated, he couldn't find words. 

Xara pulled what looked like a salve from her pocket and rubbed it on Stella's arms, earning an awkward thanks.

Xara turned to Jesse. "Well. Seems i was wrong when i first diagnosed you, huh?"

Jesse gave her a confused frown. "What do you mean?"

"Obviously, your body was.. Far more recipient to the energy than i first suspected, since it's overloaded your body to this freaking extent.." she gestured at stella. "It's become violent because you can't control it yet"

Jesse's face fell. "For heavens sakes... Is there a way to control it?"

Xara shrugged "I mean... Probably. I never often had your problem unless i overexerted myself then tried to regen my powers too quickly..." she looked to be in deep thought "we can.. Certainly try. Come on, stand up"

Jesse took the proffered hand and was hoisted up, and also reached down to pull Stella up, guilt from earlier intensifying as he saw her well hidden but not invisible wince.

"Well.." he sighed and looked to Xara. "The sooner the better, right? Please help me?"

Xara smiled slightly. "Of course. Come on"

×××Ch.7×××

Jesse hissed as wisps of red smoke emitted from his body, feeling like bee stings whenever they emerged from his skin. 

Xara, brow furrowed in intense concentration, folded her hands before kneeling in front of his slumped form.

"Just... Breathe" she instructed, eyes seeming to glimmer an unearthly purple. "Close your eyes and imagine the energy coming out of you. Picture it in your head as well as you can. Nod when you're done"

Breathing slowly and in measured bursts, Jesse closed his eyes and tried to imagine the energy. Licking flames of red bubbling fire, red streams of water like blood but lighter, rust coloured smoke...

Okay, he had a clear image. He nodded. Xara nodded back despite knowing he couldn't see her do it.

"Okay... Now try and imagine that running through your body. Pick an area of passage in your body and visualise blocking the flow"

Swallowing, Jesse tried to imagine it. Little red lines like veins running through his skin, letting off waves of blood coloured energy, tearing through his skin, breaking his flesh..

Okay. A bit too graphic. He swallowed thickly.

Focusing on his right arm, he desperately imagined a blockade. Some form of restriction. A blood clot, whatever. Something.

Pain rushed through him as he focused on pushing the energy away from that point.

When he decided that the energy was no longer moving that way, he nodded.

"Ok" Xara smiled. "Open your eyes" Jesse opened his eyes. Xara patted his arm. "Now... Try and do that everytime you think you might go out of control, okay? Once the magic is under your control you should be able to dispel it..."

Smiling, jesse stood up. "Thanks so much Xara.." he noted that whilst the smoke wasn't yet gone, it was a lot more faint and wispy, and the frustrating pain had fell to a feeling akin to being poked with a pin. Unpleasent, but ignorable.

"You're welcome, pipsqueak. Now go make it up to Stella, since you burned her real bad"

Jesse felt his throat close up again, that odd feeling returning.

\---

"Stella?" 

Stella's head tilted to look at him from where she was petting Lluna. Her sleeves were rolled up, exposing her injuries, and Jesse felt embarrassment cover him, before snapping out of it.

"I just.... I really am sorry. That looks.. Painful"

Stella forced a smile, allowing Lluna to run off, standing up. "It's fine, Jesse" she smiled. "I would do it again if i had to. Yes, it's slightly painful, but I've been handling it pretty good.." she let out a laugh "Though i suppose i can't do anything combat-related for quite a while.." she noticed the look on his face. "Why so gloomy? Jesse..."

Jesse ground his teeth. "It's just... I'm so sick that things always have to go this way. Why do i hurt everyone i care about?" the words bubbled up before he could stop them and his embarrassment just spiralled higher as he saw Stella's face go pink.

"You.. care?" she asked slowly, eyebrow raised, and Jesse turned away, closing his eyes. "Um.... Yeah!" he stammered. "I do, so... Uh... Yeah!!"

Stella laughed and circled him so they were face to face. When he avoided eye contact she cupped his face and forced him to look at her.

"Hey... I hate you a lot..." she said vehemently, though without spite. Her expression went tired. "But... But yeah. I care about you too"

Jesse smiled and her act broke, flustered. "O-oi! Don't get the wrong idea, weirdo! I don't like you, okay!"

He smirked and poked her cheek. "Baka?" he asked, grinning. She pouted. "Geddout" she childishly mumbled. He laughed, heart swelling. God, he loved her.

Wait.. What?

×××Ch.8×××

"LUKAS HELP!!!"

Lukas turned around just in time to feel Jesse barrel into him, knocking him to the floor and pushing the air out of his lungs.

"J-Jesse???!" he wheezed, pushing the boy off of him. Jesse ignored this, face filled with panic.

"LUKAS YOU GOTTA HELP ME!!!"

Lukas blinked. "You have like... God power stuff now. I'm sure you don't need my help"

"Nooooo!" Jesse yelled, face veering on scared. "LUKAS I LOVE HER AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

Lukas's mouth fell open.

"Bluh- wha??? Who??? Tell me everything!" he exclaimed, sitting up fully. Jesse blushed.

"Er... Stella"

If it were possible then Lukases eyes widened further.

"What?!" he yelled, shaking Jesse. His friends face was equally in shock. "I- i know!! What do i do, HELP!"

Lukas blinked, calming down. "Jesse i know... Next to nothing about romance. I've dated one guy in my life, and he's now in Isa's prison for presumably forever. I'm not the go-to guy.."

Jesse pouted. "You have to tell me SOMETHING!! Aahh...."

Lukas huffed out a laugh, clambering to his feet and bringing Jesse up with him. He didn't comment on the subtle crimson opaque wisps trailing from Jesse's hand, though he did silently arch a brow which Jesse ignored.

"I dunno... Ask her out? What do you like about her?" he questioned, and Jesse took apon a dreamy look.

"E v e r y t h i n g" he breathed, starry eyed. Lukas smiled. "Like i said... Ask her out"

Jesse shook his head rapidly like a wet dog, eyes narrowed. "No way! Lukas, soooo many things could go wrong! I could ruin it, she could not like me, a massive sheep might slaughter everyo-"

Lukas blinked at him.

Jesse grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Ok, so maybe i can't think straight right now-"

"You're telling me" Lukas smirked.

"-But ohhh.... This feeling is so amazing" Jesse beamed. "I think imma go train.... Aaaa"

And just like that he was gone.

Lukas ran a hand down his face in exasperated fondness.

\---

"You train pretty hard" Stella commented when she found Jesse attacking a dummy rather voraciously. Jesse seemed to tense up utterly, a massive blush dusting his face as he turned to her. She couldn't help but notice that the whites of his eyes seemed slightly pink/reddish.

Not that she wasn't also focussing on his blush. That was oddly adorable.

"Uh... Yeah. It helps keep the energy from going out of control" he mumbled, dorkily smiling. She found her own face heating up. "Mind if i join?"

Jesse sent her a worried glance. "Aren't you still in pain..?"

Stella laughed a bit forced, stretching. "There's no use in not training. Who knows when I'll have to be fit to take down some enemy before you can" she taunted, but was taken aback when he instinctively replied with "oh, you're fit alright" before slapping his hand over his mouth with a damn near scandalised expression at what he had let slip. She could cut through the tension with a knife.

"Jesse.." she raised an eyebrow. "Did you just use that kiddie word to call me hot?"

Jesse blustered even more, tripping over his words ungracefully. Stella smirked in a slightly conspiratorial way, hand resting on her hip. Jesse's training sword lay forgotten on the floor. As he stood there embarrassed, he could feel his control slipping and the red aura pulsing once more. God, why did she have to have such an effect on him?

×××Ch.9×××

Boiling blood seeped from her eyes like trails of acidic wine, leaving burn tracks down her cheeks. 

Stella screamed and clutched at her head, sobbing hysterically.

She couldn't see, hear, could hardly breathe.

Jesse was panicking by her side, his anxiousness causing his energy to flare. Painful bubbles of red energy rose beneath his skin, but he ignored it.

Jesse held her hand with a vice like grip, eyes filled with tears. 

There had to be a way to stop this. He could feel her heart speeding up at an unnatural pace. 

Swallowing thickly, he concentrated. Put all of his energy to THINK, THINK, THINK DAMNIT! Frustration tore through him as he came up blank. She didn't have much time left, she was far less adapted to the energy than he was.

When he opened his eyes, everything was white. He panicked when he realised that Stella was no longer by his side. His hand still felt warm, however.

"H-HELLO?" he shouted into the white abyss. "STELLA? XARA?"

Spotting a blue blob ahead, he dashed over, tripping over his own feet.

As he got closer, he became aware that this was clearly a person. "H-hey!" he panted, coming to a stop a few meters away from the person facing away from him. "C-can you help me?"

The person shifted, before turning. Jesse stifled a scream before it could rip unheeded from his throat.

The person was void of pupils, streams of glowing white energy creating trails as he moved. His hair was short and horribly tangled, falling in clumps about his head. He was incredibly gaunt, bones sticking out almost gorily through his flesh.

His lips twisted into a snarl, and Jesse was acutely aware of razor sharp canines.

"You damn humans.." he spat. His voice was gravelly and rang through Jesse's head. "STAY OUT OF MY WORLD!"

Jesse was thrown backward by an invisible force. With no walls to stop his fall, he forced the red energy beneath his skin to halt him, and he came to a thudding stop away from the man who was steadily approaching, no doubt to kill him.

He glared, anger filling his veins. Damn it, he didn't have time for this! Stella could be DYING!

Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had begun a colour shift, turning a dark red and eye bleeding yellow. 

The man seemed to pause, recognition entering his features. "Romeo? Your energy... No" his expression hardened. "Who are you?"

Impatient, Jesse cut to the chase. "I need your help. My friend is dying"

The man gave him a bewildered look. "Why should i help you?!"

Jesse bit his lip indecisively, before hesitantly offering his hand.

"Power exchange, maybe?"

The man eyes his hand suspiciously. "Hmm... This is interesting. I'll indulge you. Maybe. BUT-" he cut in sharply at Jesse's happily surprised expression "I need one more thing"

Jesse raised a brow suspiciously. "What?"

The man smirked. "Why, your soul of course. After you die, I'd quite like ownership of it. I need it for something"

Unhesitantly Jesse reached out and shook the man's hand. "Deal!"

The man laughed. "No hesitation? I like you, kid"

"Jesse" the boy corrected.

"Then call me herobrine" the man told him as white energy began to climb Jesse's arm.

Jesse came to in the real world with a start, fully aware of the crowd surrounding himself and Stella.

Unable to bear watching her in pain any longer, he drew on his power reserves.

While the usual, and currently useless, red energy spiralled from his fingertips, an eyebleedingly intense white seemed to be joining the frey. The energy was chaotic and inherently malicious. But he didn't care.

The energy intertwined with Stella's frantic energy, and the two energies mixed. Her heartbeat began to slow.

Finally quiet, she collapsed in his arms.

×××Ch.10×××

A man from far away twitched, before his whole body shook.

His brown and blue eyes widened, and his hand immediately came to rest on his diamond sword, the thousands of enchantments in the blade making it thrum to the touch.

His mouth moved before his brain did.

"I can sense Herobrine...."

In an instant, he was gone.

\---

"You made a deal with the ARTISAN OF CHAOS?!" Stella exclaimed, horrifed. Jesse rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You.. You were gonna die otherwise.."

Stella flopped her head into her hands, left eye turning a red and gold in her frustration. "Jesse, you MORON! Who CARES if i die, this is incredibly serious!"

Jesse frowned, his own right changing to red and gold, his left beginning to shimmer white.

"I CARE!" he exclaimed. "We can make my stupid deal right again, but we can't raise the dead! Besides , what can he even do with my soul?!"

Stella ran a hand down her face. "He could come fully back to life you idiot. Cripes, we're all doomed.  
And seriously Jesse, i know I'm awesome but I'm not important in the grand scheme of things"

Jesse shook his head and grabbed her shoulders. "You are to me"

Stella's eye widened, the left beginning to fade back to green. A flush covered her face. "You-?"

Jesse swallowed. Now or never. "Stella, I-"

He was cut off by a blade suddenly held to his throat, and though it was barely touching him he could feel blood beading up. 

Both of his eyes fully turned, and his face turned cold, though fearful. "Who is this?"

Stella's left eye had now also fully turned and was letting off streams of magic, though her face was nervous. "He-herobrine?"

Jesse paled considerably, and he moved to scream before the person behind him pushed his head in a way that for some reason made him quiet. He tried to speak and found he couldn't. "No" the person stated. "My name is Steve. And you..?"

"U-uh.. Stella... Why are you trying to kill my bo-" Stella's face twisted and she restarted "Why are you trying to kill my friend?"

The man's grip on his sword was relaxed, Jesse noticed, but the sword was still steady. How did he...?

"Your FRIEND has remnants of Herobrine's powers in him" the man stated flatly. "I want to know what's going on here"

Angry at being unable to talk, his emotions getting the better of him, Jesse could feel red magic once again flowing via steam through his skin. He began to push against whatever mental block the man had placed to keep him from speaking.

The man stiffened in suprise as Jesse made a few gasping sounds, before managing to force out a "Let... Go"

The man stepped back, sword removed from his neck in an instant. "What the hell are you?!" he breathed, and Jesse frowned. The man continued "Even herobrine takes longer to break through my blocks. What. THE HELL. are you?!"

When Jesse failed to respond, the man's face grew hard. "If you won't answer me, I'll have to remove you. Your existence is proving to be a potential problem"

Jesse scanned the man. 

This 'Steve' had one brown, almost black, eye and one rather pale blue eye. He was wearing a tattered cyan shirt with sleeves that stopped on the elbow. He was also wearing navy trousers covered in dust, old blood and dirt. He was barefoot, and had slightly tanned skin, though it was also pale. His hair reminded Jesse of Herobrine, as being an untamed mess. 

In his hand was what terrified Jesse. That sword the man was carrying not only looked ancient, with runes engraved in the handle and along the blade, but was also shining incredibly bright, the particles emmited from it so plentiful it looked like rain made of energy was falling from it. Not to mention that Jesse could confirm from firsthand experience that the blade was sharper than a razors edge. It would likely cut through his iron sword like butter.

But that was all he had in his inventory.

.....He was totally gonna die.

The man took a step forward, then, as Jesse blinked, was suddenly beside him. A searing pain tore through him, and his hands came to grab his side where a deep cut now lay. The man stared unemotionally. 

Jesse couldn't stop the white haze that overtook his mind, and had he kept it at bay for a second more, he would have seen the horror cross the mans face at the white smoke.

×××Ch.11×××

For the next minute, Jesse was out of control.

The man- Steve- Fought back, but couldn't defend from all of Jesse's onslaught. He was sent thrown back by a shockwave of startlingly white light.

The wound in Jesse's side began to sew itself back together with it's flesh, the wound closed over in seconds though the massive blood stain on his shirt remained.

Jesse came to after attacking Steve for a full minute, and his eyes grew wide at the man laying below him, eyes wide with fear, before it turned into hatred. His brown eye turned black and his blue eye went grey. Jesse was sent sprawling by a beam of light that came from the man's abruptly outstretched hand.

Runes were snaking their way up Steve's neck, and half of his face went an opaque black, the only feature seen through it was the grey of his eyes.

He stood over Jesse, who was snarling, mind deteriorating not only from overuse of his magic, but also delerium from being thrown backward so violently.

Steve curled his lip. "The fact that you made me use my god given powers.... I can't afford to let you live"

Jesse just continued snarling, familiar red wisps coming from his skin. He thrashed as the man plunged his sword into him, faintly hearing Stella scream in the background. Pain overrid his senses, and he wrenched the sword from his chest to grab the other's face animalistically, a gutteral sound emitted from his throat.

He landed on top of the man, who was now also growling, silver eye gleaming so strongly it hurt to look at, but Jesse refused to look away as he raised his fist, energy building around it.

"Stop it.." Stella begged, trembling.

His fist came down, and Steve arched his head away, causing Jesse's fist to collide with the floor. The boy screamed at his now broken fist, and Steve headbutted him off, shoving him backward and starting to levitate off of the floor slightly..

"S-stop... Please" Stella gasped, unaware to a vivid red aura building around her.

Steve grabbed his sword and lunged at Jesse. Materialising his own, Jesse also shot forward.

"I SAID STOP!"

Time seemed to freeze.

Both men were knocked out cold instantly, hitting the floor rather violently. The area around them crumbled, dissolving into nothingness. Standing meekly in the crater she had just made, the side affects of her magic usage kicking in, Stella collapsed.


End file.
